As we learned in yesterday's snapshot, diplomatic officials are being tasked with talking to Sunni officials/leaders in an attempt to get them on board with fighting the Islamic State.

That's not diplomatic efforts, that's not working towards a political solution.

That does nothing to address the revenge cycle that governs Iraq.

Under Saddam Hussein, Shi'ites were persecuted.

Under the US-installed Shi'ite regime, Sunnis are persecuted.

Haider al-Abadi's done nothing to break the cycle and yet Barack praised him this week for his (non) efforts.

And as the diplomatic efforts are not dealt with, new cycles start.

Thought I was over the bridge now
I'm already in
Circles and circles and circles again
The girl's in
Circles and circles
Got to stop spinning
Circles and circles and circles again
Thought I was over the bridge now
-- "Cloud On My Tongue," written by Tori Amos, first appears on her Under The Pink

The full extent of the horror that has unfolded across Iraq over the
past year is revealed in an interactive story map published by Amnesty
International today, detailing the plight of Iraqi civilians caught in a
deadly spiral of horrific crimes by the armed group calling itself the
Islamic State (IS) and brutal revenge attacks by the now dominant
government-backed Shi’a militias and government forces.Within the story map, the organization is publishing two briefings,
which contain its findings on two massacres carried out in January 2015
apparently to avenge IS crimes: the massacre of at least 56 Sunni Arab men - possible more than 70 - in Barwana, a village in Diyala province, by Shi’a militiamen and government forces, and the killing of 21 Sunni Arab villagers in the Sinjar region by members of a Yezidi militia.“Iraq has been engulfed in a deadly spiral of violence since the IS
overran large parts of the country a year ago. The heinous crimes of the
IS have been met by growing sectarian attacks by Shi’a militias, who
are taking revenge for IS crimes by targeting Sunni Arabs,” said
Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Advisor, who has
spent much of the past year in Iraq documenting war crimes and other
gross violations of human rights.“With perpetrators from the IS and from powerful Shi’a militias
mostly out of reach of the law, civilians have no one to turn to for
protection and victims have no access to justice.”

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.